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Sustainable biomedicine textile research program launched

07 May '15

2 min read

Trade body Swiss Textiles and the Federal Materials Testing and Research Establishment Empa launched the joint ‘Subitex: Sustainable Biomedicine Textiles’ research initiative at the ongoing Techtextil.

“This initiative is intended to enable innovations to be brought to market more rapidly and also hike cooperation between the Swiss textile industry and other branches,” Swiss Textiles said in a press release.

According to the trade body, working with Swiss research establishments, member companies of the Swiss textile and garments industry have already brought numerous innovations into the market.

“This successful cooperation will now be further enhanced as many possible applications exist for intelligent textiles in medical technology and sensor systems,” it added.

“However, to enable research outcomes to be implemented in a product fit for the market, close cooperation between research and manufacturing industry is essential,” Swiss Textiles informed.

The ‘Subitex: Sustainable Biomedicine Textiles’ research initiative aims to promote innovations in the textile sector through an intensive dialogue between science and industry.

The initiative is designed to run for five years in which, 20 member companies of Swiss Textiles are currently involved.

“It is important for us to be committed to conditions that are conducive to innovation and so, pioneering initiatives of the Subitex kind deserve our strong support”, Andreas Sallmann, Swiss Textiles chairman said.

According to Dr Rossi, head of the Protection and Physiology Department at Empa, textiles have a lead on other materials in several ways and there are practically no limits to their areas of application.”

Dr Rossi added, “Through ‘Subitex’ we want to enhance the visibility of Swiss textile research and build networks between the industrial partners and also with other research institutes.”

The intention is to make ‘Subitex’ part of the CCMX Materials Challenge ‘Self-care materials’ aimed at the development of new fibre structures to release or absorb other substances.

These systems have all kinds of potential applications as ways of administering medicines, in textile sensors or as intelligent packaging materials.

Other industrial partners outside the textile sector will be taking part in the CCMX Materials Challenge, so enabling an interdisciplinary network of research and industrial partners to be established. (AR)

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India